Debate contributions by Virginie JORON

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear democrats, dear legalists, I would like to make a point of order. Rule 219 provides for respect for gender equality in the composition of committee bureaux. However, this equality is not respected, nor is the result of the ballot box, i.e. democracy. Indeed, Madam President, you have agreed not to respect democracy by granting a derogation from the principle of gender equality for Mr Weber in several committee offices, thereby ignoring more than 20 million of our voters. How can you accept that the CONT committee, which controls the EU budget – and has to lead by example – continues not to respect our rules? You want to export gender equality to Kazakhstan or dedicate a week to it in December, but this principle is already not respected in CONT, at the very heart of our institution. By not having a fourth Vice-President, the composition of the CONT Bureau violates our Rules of Procedure. Madam President, thank you for taking the necessary steps to put an end to this hypocrisy and to respect our motto, 'United in diversity'.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, do you remember one of the biggest fake news stories of recent years, during the COVID-19 crisis, with 'All vaccinated, all protected'? We knew quite quickly that this was not true and it was forbidden to say it, says this weekend a journalist of CNews. "Forbidden to say it," outright. The media has long been under control, owned by billionaires or subsidized by the regimes in place. But that's not enough for you. You produce fake news, you censor everything, as Mark Zuckerberg just pointed out, and you even let go of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. And since from Iraq to Afghanistan, wars go on, here's what he said: Almost every war that has started in the last 50 years has been the result of the lies that have been publicized. The media could have stopped them. If they had done their research rather than relaying government propaganda, they could have stopped them. What does that mean? This means that people do not like wars. People do not agree to go to war with their eyes wide open. People must be manipulated to accept wars. So if we had a healthy media world, we would have a more peaceful world. I would rather say that with a healthy media world, we need above all a healthy political world that respects, do not displease you, all political parties, without inventing new anathemas such as "populism".

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, today we are debating anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who was arrested in Greenland on 21 July 2024 and is awaiting extradition to Japan. This extradition request will be examined on 2 October. The arrest is related to events in the Southern Ocean in February 2010. Watson is charged with complicity in assault and intrusion on a ship, two charges that are related to the collision of a Japanese ship, the Shōnan Maru 2. As a matter of law, States have exclusive jurisdiction over vessels flying their flag while on the high seas. This means that Japan can treat the collision of the Shōnan Maru 2 as if it had occurred on Japanese territory. He issued an international arrest warrant for Paul Watson in 2012. I do not know Paul Watson personally, but I note that France, Brigitte Bardot and more than 700,000 people have mobilized for him by signing a petition against his extradition that would be fatal to him. But over the years, Paul Watson has become famous and even the emblem of the defense of whales, dolphins and other marine mammals hunted around the world. We respect the people, culture and state of Japan. I respect Denmark, Greenland and it will be their decision in the end of course, but this case raises questions. The Kangei Maru, Japanese whaler inaugurated in May 2024, is a war machine designed to kill thousands of whales even in the most remote corners of the planet. Japan is acting in violation of the international moratorium on the whale meat trade, which entered into force in 1986 and which Denmark has ratified. He is shedding the blood of whales at a time when a global mobilization is being organized to free their greatest defender. This pursuit to white hair and the death of a man, this extradition reminds me of others: Those of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, truth fighters, freedom fighters, whistleblowers, they have been chased around the world. Japan has been tracking Paul Watson since 2012 with a red notice issued by Interpol. A 2017 European Parliament report denounces the multiple abuses and misuses of the Red Notice system, used by some governments to track down political activists and opponents. The case of Paul Watson is cited as one example of this kind of abuse. Our challenge today is to find a balance between the fight against animal suffering and the persistence of human traditions, without entering into the game of geopolitical tensions that often underlie these fights.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Digital Service Act or rather Digital Surveillance Act. While your friend Mario Draghi, the man who helped Goldman Sachs and Greece by concealing deficits, paints a disastrous picture of the European Union in terms of technology and innovation, France handcuffs the director of Telegram in the middle of the summer and the Commission hunts down Twitter, or X, which offers interviews with Donald Trump. Even the director of Proton Mail talks about economic suicide. Commissioner Breton, prolix of his lounge chair to send missives in the middle of summer to Elon Musk, is a commissioner who has resigned since yesterday in Brussels and will finally no longer be able to explain himself to MEPs. Yes, a dirty summer for freedom of expression and innovation under the pretext, I quote, of protecting European citizens. Protect them from what, after all? Freedom to think, to think differently? The word "disinformation" has never been heard as much as it is today. The more votes the good side loses, the more it screams to fight disinformation. Parliament even urges us to ask you for stricter control of Telegram. We saw it during the COVID period, with this crazy censorship and vaccine propaganda, questioned a few days ago by the director of Meta who was forced to follow the instructions of the governments. You are finally the puppet of a dying system. The Union you want, even with an 800 billion euro plan, will not go far, but that may be the scam.